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Third-party groups form coalition
by Jeff Packham
The Journal Record www.journalrecord.com
10/30/2006
OKLAHOMA CITY – What political
party embraces small government while protecting the environment and
holding corporations accountable? Many parties may come to mind, but the
only right answer in Oklahoma may be the
Oklahoma Coalition of Independents (OKIES).
The recently
created coalition will be taking advantage of a favorable climate to
attempt to reshape the way people view Independent candidates when voting
at the polls. The founders of OKIES also hope to bring about ballot access
reform by coming together for a common cause.
The coalition is
made up of members of a handful of political parties not recognized in Oklahoma, including the
Libertarian Party and the Green Party. Although the politically minded
party leaders admit they don’t necessarily share many similar views,
they do realize that they must be more active as a whole to accomplish more
individually.
“We frankly
don’t agree on anything other than ballot access and that we want
more choices on the ballot,” J.M. Branum,
an officer with the state Green Party, said.
The ultimate goal
for the coalition is to get a third party on to the ballot. Oklahoma was the only
state in 2004 to have only two organized political parties –
Republican and Democrat – on the presidential ballot.
Oklahoma law requires that
a political party must contain the signatures of at least 5 percent of the
voting population when petitioning for recognition. The party candidate
must then gain at least 10 percent of the vote in a presidential election
or the party would cease to exist in Oklahoma.
“We’re
just so fed up about the ballot access laws,” OKIES state coordinator
David Splinter said. “We think Oklahomans want to reform ballot
laws.”
Splinter, an
officer with the state Libertarian Party, said another major goal is to
recruit independent candidates to run for office. Forty-two legislative
seats have incumbents running unopposed, which Splinter said
shouldn’t happen.
The immediate goal
for the coalition will be to improve on its ability to reach out to the
estimated 200,000 independent voters in Oklahoma. That
doesn’t include people like Clark Duffe, a
member of OKIES, who is registered Republican but is a member of the state
Libertarian Party.
Duffe lost in the
Republican primary against state Rep. Marian Cooksey, R-Edmond, in House
District 39, this year after fellow Libertarian Richard Prawdzienski
had lost in the same race in 2002 and 2004.
“The goal is
to get more participation,” Duffe said.
“There are other options beyond the two major parties.”
The coalition
consists of nine members from various regions of the state. Six of the
candidates ran for an elected office this year, with only Duffe having filed as something other than an
Independent.
Oklahomans have
historically not voted for independent candidates and one of the more
famous Independents to run in Oklahoma was gubernatorial
candidate Gary Richardson, who received 14 percent of the vote in 2002.
Candidates who file as Independents have to be realistic about their race
based on past voting.
“If I could
get 10 percent, it would be a victory,” Branum
said of his race in House District 99.
The bottom line
for those in the various third parties is that they feel as if they are
being excluded the opportunities to express their views in a society that
promotes itself as all-inclusive. Branum said
voters in the U.S. should be able to
select the candidate they want and not just have a choice between the two
candidates the government tells them they can select from.
“Government
decides which choices are appropriate and which are not,” Branum said. “It’s un-American.”
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